Det var ikke bare en misforståelse, men også en løgn, da han sagde, at hun aldrig havde ringet.

Det var means it was.

In Danish, det is often used as a general it/that subject, just like English it in sentences such as It was a mistake.

So:

• Det var en misforståelse = It was a misunderstanding
• Det var ... en løgn = It was ... a lie

Here, var is the past tense of være (to be), because the whole statement is talking about something in the past.

This is a very common Danish pattern meaning not just ..., but also ... or not only ..., but also ....

In the sentence:

• ikke bare en misforståelse = not just a misunderstanding
• men også en løgn = but also a lie

So the full contrast is:

• Det var ikke bare en misforståelse, men også en løgn
  = It was not just a misunderstanding, but also a lie

This structure is very close to English, so it is usually easy to recognize.

Other examples:

• Han er ikke bare træt, men også syg.
  = He is not only tired, but also sick.
• Det var ikke bare dyrt, men også dårligt.
  = It was not just expensive, but also bad.

Both misforståelse and løgn are common-gender nouns in Danish, so they take en.

• en misforståelse = a misunderstanding
• en løgn = a lie

This is something you usually just have to learn with the noun.

Their definite forms are:

• misforståelsen = the misunderstanding
• løgnen = the lie

Misforståelse means misunderstanding.

It is built from:

• mis- = a negative/wrong prefix, like mis- in English
• forstå = to understand
• -else = a noun ending

So literally it is something like a wrong understanding.

This is a useful word to know because it is very common in everyday Danish.

Here da means when.

In the sentence:

• da han sagde = when he said

So the clause tells us the time/context in which something happened.

A key point for learners:

• da is often used about a specific event in the past
• når is often used for repeated events or for present/future when

Compare:

• Da han kom, begyndte vi.
  = When he arrived, we started.
• Når han kommer, begynder vi.
  = When he arrives, we will start.

So da fits well here because this is about something he said in the past.

Danish normally uses commas before subordinate clauses.

So in this sentence:

• ..., da han sagde, at hun aldrig havde ringet.

you get:

• a comma before da han sagde
• a comma before at hun aldrig havde ringet

This is very standard in Danish writing.

The sentence is divided like this:

• Main clause: Det var ikke bare en misforståelse, men også en løgn
• Subordinate clause: da han sagde
• Subordinate clause inside that clause: at hun aldrig havde ringet

Even if comma rules can vary a little depending on style, this punctuation is completely normal and expected.

Sagde is the simple past tense of sige (to say).

• sige = to say
• siger = says / is saying
• sagde = said
• har sagt = has said

Since the sentence describes a past event, sagde is the correct form:

• da han sagde = when he said

You would not use sagt by itself here, because sagt is a past participle and normally needs an auxiliary verb:

• han har sagt = he has said
• han havde sagt = he had said

This means that she had never called.

The form havde ringet is the past perfect, also called the pluperfect.

It is made with:

• havde = past tense of have
• past participle: ringet = called

So:

• hun havde ringet = she had called
• hun aldrig havde ringet = she had never called

This tense is used because her supposed calling happened earlier than his statement.

Timeline:

1. The question of whether she called or not belongs to an earlier time.
2. Later, he said that she had never called.

That is exactly the kind of situation where Danish uses the past perfect, just like English.

Because Danish subordinate clauses have different word order from main clauses.

After at, the sentence is a subordinate clause, and adverbs like aldrig usually come before the finite verb.

So the normal order is:

• at hun aldrig havde ringet

Breakdown:

• at = that
• hun = she
• aldrig = never
• havde = had
• ringet = called

This is a very important Danish pattern:

• Main clause: Hun havde aldrig ringet is possible in some contexts, but in neutral main-clause Danish adverb placement follows V2 patterns.
• Subordinate clause: ... at hun aldrig havde ringet is the expected order.

A simpler comparison:

• Main clause: Hun kommer aldrig.
  = She never comes.
• Subordinate clause: Jeg ved, at hun aldrig kommer.
  = I know that she never comes.

So after at, aldrig naturally comes before havde.

At here means that and introduces a content clause.

So:

• han sagde, at ... = he said that ...

This is very common in Danish after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, believing, etc.

Examples:

• Hun sagde, at hun var træt.
  = She said that she was tired.
• Jeg tror, at det er rigtigt.
  = I think that it is correct.

In spoken Danish, at can sometimes be omitted in some contexts, but in writing it is very normal to include it.

Yes. Danish is flexible about moving adverbial clauses to the front.

You could say:

• Da han sagde, at hun aldrig havde ringet, var det ikke bare en misforståelse, men også en løgn.

This means the same thing, but the emphasis changes slightly. Starting with Da han sagde ... puts the time/context first.

Notice what happens in the main clause after the fronted subordinate clause:

• var det
• not det var

This is because Danish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb usually comes in second position.

So when Da han sagde, at hun aldrig havde ringet takes the first position, var must come before det in the main clause.

Yes.

• ringe = to call / to phone
• ringet = past participle, called

So:

• hun ringer = she is calling / she calls
• hun ringede = she called
• hun har ringet = she has called
• hun havde ringet = she had called

Be careful: ringe can also literally relate to ringing, but in everyday Danish it is very commonly used for making a phone call.

Usually yes. Aldrig means never.

In this sentence:

• hun aldrig havde ringet = she had never called

It is a strong negative adverb.

Some useful comparisons:

• ikke = not
• aldrig = never
• ofte = often
• altid = always

Examples:

• Jeg ringer ikke.
  = I am not calling / I do not call.
• Jeg ringer aldrig.
  = I never call.

So aldrig is stronger and more specific than ikke.

A good way to divide it is like this:

1. Main statement:

   • Det var ikke bare en misforståelse, men også en løgn
   • It was not just a misunderstanding, but also a lie

2. Time/context clause:

   • da han sagde
   • when he said

3. Content clause:

   • at hun aldrig havde ringet
   • that she had never called

So the logic is:

• When he said that she had never called,
• what he said was not merely a misunderstanding,
• it was also a lie.

This is a good example of how Danish can stack clauses in a way that is very similar to English, but with a few important word-order differences in subordinate clauses.